Posted on Wednesday, August 14, 2019 by Decimal Diver
Here is a new DVD list highlighting various titles recently added to the library’s collection.
“Bisbee ’17” Website / Reviews
Playing at the 2018 True False Film Fest, this film by Columbia, MO director Robert Greene follows several members of the close-knit community in Bisbee, Arizona, a former mining town, as they commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Bisbee Deportation, when 1,200 immigrant miners were violently taken from their homes by a deputized force, shipped to the desert on cattle cars and left to die. Continue reading “New DVD List: Bisbee 17, Little Woods & More”
An AFL-CIO poster suggesting that a living wage sets a strong foundation for a thriving community.
It has been 10 years since Congress last raised the federal minimum wage to $7.25, and workers are still demanding better, family-supporting pay across America. Since 2012, movements like “Fight for Fifteen” have demonstrated that working for the current minimum wage cannot meet the cost of living, causing workers to call for incomes that reflect a “living wage.” This means pay that covers staple expenses like housing, child care, food, transportation, health care and other basic needs. Showing just how out of sync the minimum wage is with sustaining an ordinary lifestyle, the Living Wage Calculator* measures these average costs for different towns and family makeups to estimate the amount of money people should earn to afford their necessities. For the base-line single person in Columbia, that number is currently $11.13. Continue reading “Spotlight: A Living Wage”
This year’s One Read selection, “Nomadland” by Jessica Bruder, explores the lives of people left out of, or let down by, our financial system. Though their stories are often rooted in misfortune, they also display resilience, ingenuity and a sense of community. Bruder’s book, which started as a cover story for Harper’s Magazine called “The End of Retirement,” shows us a new 21st century iteration of migrant workers who are often older and retired. With their options limited by circumstance, they choose to live in RVs and retrofitted vans as they follow work opportunities across the country. Bruder buys her own van and ventures out with them, chasing temporary jobs in national parks, Amazon fulfillment centers and beet fields. The plight of these Americans might remind you of the Okies in “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck, and there are other excellent books that explore similar territory. If “Nomadland” whets your appetite, here are some suggestions for further reading. Continue reading “Literary Links: Nomadland”
This is a continuation of my 50th anniversary posts focusing on important events that happened in 1969.
The Manson Family murders, also known as the Tate Murders, occurred on August 8-9, 1969 in Los Angeles, California. At 10050 Cielo Drive Roman Polanski lived with his wife, actress Sharon Tate. On the day of the murders, Tate, who was eight and a half months pregnant, was there along with three friends, and an 18-year-old visitor. Manson told four of his followers, Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian and Patricia Krenwinkel to go to the house and “totally destroy everyone in [it], as gruesome as you can.” To find out the whole story check out one of the items below from the library or check out this list for more suggestions about the Manson Family murders. Continue reading “50th Anniversary: Manson Family Murders”
Posted on Thursday, August 8, 2019 by patron reviewer
“Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered” is a dual-memoir from the hosts of popular podcast “My Favorite Murder.” They tell stories that have been touched on in episodes of the podcast, as well as other topics that have never been discussed. Each chapter is under a certain theme or inside joke often referenced in the podcast, such as “Stay Out of the Forest” or “Sweet Baby Angel,” and it was interesting to see how they incorporated stories from their pasts to jokes on the show. I loved it because it was like hearing words of wisdom from two older friends who swear a lot and have experienced very relatable lives, all while through a lens of humor.
Three words that describe this book: Irreverent. Hilarious. Nostalgic.
You might want to pick this book up if: You love true crime and comedy and swearing.
Mark your calendars because the most prominent holiday of the year is quickly approaching. August 18 is National Bad Poetry Day!
Whether you’re reading or writing it, bad poetry is fun. Maybe it’s the pure schadenfreude of watching someone be bad at something. It makes us feel better about ourselves, especially when good poets put out bad poetry. The same poet who penned beautiful lines such as: Continue reading “National Bad Poetry Day”
Here is a quick highlight of some of the noteworthy nonfiction titles being released the August. Visit our catalog for a more extensive list.
Interesting Picks
“The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America” by Karen Abbott
In the early days of Prohibition, long before Al Capone became a household name, a German immigrant named George Remus quits practicing law and starts trafficking whiskey. Within two years he’s a multimillionaire. The press call him “King of the Bootleggers,” writing breathless stories about the Gatsby-esque events he and his glamorous second wife, Imogene, host at their Cincinnati mansion, with party favors ranging from diamond jewelry for the men to brand new Pontiacs for the women. By the summer of 1921, Remus own 35 percent of all the liquor in the United States. Pioneering prosecutor Mabel Walker Willebrandt is determined to bring him down. Willebrandt’s bosses at the U.S. Attorney’s office hired her right out of law school, assuming she’d pose no real threat to the cozy relationship they maintained with Remus. Eager to prove them wrong, she dispatches her best investigator, Franklin Dodge, to look into his empire. It’s a decision with deadly consequences: with Remus behind bars, Dodge and Imogene begin an affair and plot to ruin him, sparking a bitter feud that soon reaches the highest levels of government — and that can only end in murder. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: August 2019”
It’s really summertime now, so grab a new book and sit in the shade (or stay inside, I won’t judge you!). We have a great lineup of LibraryReads books for August, so read on to find a favorite to stay cool with.
“An intelligent, multicultural contemporary romance. Rhi, CEO of the Crush dating app, and Samson, NFL star, embark on a joint project that turns into more than just talk. Issues of #MeToo in the tech industry and the NFL’s concussion problem are woven in. For readers of the Forbidden Heart series, Elle Wright, and Alyssa Cole.” ~Jessica Werner, The Seattle Public Library, Seattle, WAContinue reading “LibraryReads: August 2019”
Posted on Thursday, August 1, 2019 by patron reviewer
“Giraffes on Horseback Salad” is a graphic novel depicting a movie written by Salvador Dali, meant to star the Marx Brothers, which was pitched to MGM in 1937, but was never made. The author of the graphic novel, Josh Frank, calls himself a forgotten pop culture archaeologist and used source documents from the Dali and Marx estates to re-create Dali’s vision in graphic novel format, but as if it were the movie. Manuela Pertega’s artwork is fantastical — you may forget that Dali himself did not illustrate this book. While the artwork steals the show, it does feature the Marx Brothers, so there is humor, song, romance and drama. It pits “normal” society versus dreamers, asking at one point, “Reality is the nightmare of the dreamer, isn’t it just?”
Three words that describe this book: Surreal, Funny, Unique
You might want to pick this book up if: you like surreal art — even if the humor or the story doesn’t appeal, the artwork is worth checking the book out!
Posted on Wednesday, July 31, 2019 by patron reviewer
I really enjoyed “The Rescue Artist,” which I read for the 2019 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge book of non-violent true crime. The story of the theft of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” from Norway’s National Gallery in Oslo in 1994 (the same morning the Olympics started in Lillehammer) is the through-line of the story, as well as profiling Scotland Yard Art Squad detective Charley Hill, who eventually recovered the painting. The story meanders into major art thefts and art thieves in history, how those cases were often worked (or not), Munch and his works, museum security and more. I actually liked how it wandered around topics, always coming back to “The Scream” and Charley Hill. It’s how my brain works, but might be annoying to some who like a straight-line story.
However, in a classic case of judging a book by its cover, I first saw the paperback version of this title at a bookstore, which drew my eye with its brightness and the dynamic illustration on the cover, plus the pull-out quote about it being fast-paced, rollicking and beautifully written. Then I realized it would work for one of the Read Harder challenges, so I requested it from the library, which only had the hardback with a much less interesting cover! So even though I was enjoying it when I read, and it was pretty fast-paced and well-written, etc., I found myself loath to pick it up because the cover turned me off so much! So, it took longer than it should have, but I’m glad I finished it.
Three words that describe this book: art theft investigation
You might want to pick this book up if: You enjoy art, true crime written with some humor, detective work, or mysteries.
“Bisbee ’17”
